Hluvukani Roof Tiles Primary Cooperative was established with an objective of generating sustainable income for its members whilst also creating job opportunities for the members of the Madjedje village outside Tzaneen in Limpopo. The cooperative, which started as a Non Profit Organisaton in 1998, manufacturers’ different kinds of building materials The cooperative approached Seda for assistance in 2010 as its growth and development was hindered by various challenges. Its customer’s numbers were not growing fast enough and those customers that bought materials from them questioned the quality of the material delivered. The cooperative also lost some customers because its products were not approved by the South African Bureau of Standard (SABS). These two challenges affected sales and the cooperatives’ bottom line.

After Seda’s involvement, the following areas were attended to by the cooperative in conjunction with the agency:

Product testing with recognized authorities

Development of a business plan to help with identifying growth areas and access financial resources for future development

Development of marketing material to promote the business and its products.

These intervention were implemented successfully and thus enabled Hluvukani to better position itself in the market. The cooperative has started attending marketing and exhibition shows to promote its products to attract more customers.

The roof tile sales rose more than 40% between 2010 and 2012 following Seda’s involvement. At the same time, revenue and job opportunities also increased. The co-operative had 15 employees at the end of 2012, whilst revenue rose from R150 000 in 2010 to above R200 000 in 2012.